More Adults Than Ever on Social Networks
The share of adult internet users who are involved in social networking online has more than quadrupled in the past four years in the U.S. In 2005, only 8% of adults had a social network profile. As of December 2008, that number was 35%. What motivates those in older generations to go online? Is it the opportunity to professionally network with their colleagues? The answer may surprise you.
More Adults Than Ever
A majority of teens, percentage wise, join social networks, but it's the adults that still make up the bulk of these web sites. That's because adults make up a larger proportion of the U.S. population than teens, reports Pew Internet & American Life Project. So the 65% of online teens actually represents fewer users than the 35% of adults who participate online. Of course, out of that 35%, the adults that tend to join social networks still skews younger: 75% of those 18-24 use these networks, but only 7% of the adults 65+ do.
It's Not About Professional Networking After All
You may think that many adults have joined the online trend mainly to network professionally with others in their field. However, that turns out not to be true. Instead adults, like teens, are there to socialize with their friends and people they already know. Nearly nine in ten social network users (89%) say they use the networks to stay in touch with friends, and 57% say they use it to make plans with friends. Under half (49%) use the sites to make new friends.
Surprisingly, those on social networks for professional purposes are not as common as you may have thought. Only 6% of adults use LinkedIn, the online social network dedicated to professional networking, but 72% use other social networks (50% use MySpace, 22% use Facebook) for both professional and personal networking purposes. The most interesting finding is that less than a third of social network users are using them for professional purposes, regardless of which site they use.
More Tidbits: Demographics
Some other findings confirm what we've heard before about social networks: MySpace users are more likely to be women, Hispanic, black, and have a high school education or some college experience. The median age is 27. Facebook users are more likely to be male and have a college degree. The median age there is 26. LinkedIn, however, tends to be comprised of more older, white men with a college degree and median age of 40. The prevalence of men on these networks could be explained by the fact that men are more likely than women to have two or more online profiles (54% vs. 47%).
What It All Means
It appears that the trend of using social networking sites for professional purposes is not quite as common as we may have thought. Although there are portions of the population both young and old that do so, it isn't the main reason people join social networks. It's more common for people to go online to use the networks as they were originally intended - to socialize. That's not a bad thing, we suppose, but it will be interesting to see what this means for sites like LinkedIn, whose main purpose is to cater to the professional crowd.
We've already seen LinkedIn attempt to expand their network in new ways not too long ago. Just this past year, we've watched as LinkedIn added LinkedIn applications, an effort to make their network more interesting and dynamic. They also added helpful features for business-minded folks like the events section, which debuted last November. But it was only a month ago that the company brought in a new CEO, or rather, an old one - the company founder Reid Hoffman. Perhaps that means LinkedIn is planning to shake up their site and make it more relevant and popular among online users than it is today.
Share
Comments
Subscribe to comments for this post OR Subscribe to comments for all ReadWriteWeb posts
This makes sense to me since my entire family recently joined Facebook including my 79-year old Aunt to stay in touch with each other. And while I check out the profiles of business contacts, I don't use social networks explicitly for that reason.
Thanks Sarah for these useful info :)
now i can explain to my friends why most of the online social networks users are not using it in the way it was intended to be.
P.s liked what you said in the Talking Head TV :D
Validating the theory that social networks are like dating sites ("make new friends"), there are 49% of adult users who use social networks to meet new people. And this is definitely not about professional networking...
Hey Sarah,
Your article has shown the mirror to the people who are misusing the social networks for other purposes.
thanks alot for this info.
Sarah -
I have anecdotally noticed many older people joining Facebook for the first time because of an approaching high-school reunion - like a 25th, 30th, or 40th reunion - in this case there is often a single organizer who acts as a catalyst so that you join with an instant group of friends - and then other old friends, find you.
-Mathew
www.blist.com
I can confirm this anecdotally. We've noticed a huge surge in our web design clients wanted to be involved in social networks.
There seems to have been some kind of tipping point crossed in the last 3 months.
If the majority of people on these sites are not networking, isnt that a good thing for those that are? Specifically looking for job opportunities. That mean there is no large competition. Like Monster 15 years ago....is it 15 years old???
For adults, social networks are a great way to get in touch with people they haven't seen in years. More like having their own private high school reunions on their timetable. This seems to be more of the trend. Kids seem to use it to connect more with people they are already friends with, adults more with people they once were friendly with. No surprise that the technology has finally caught up to them.
I joined Facebook when my children moved out. Great way to keep up with them!
Then you discover old friends which makes it even better.
excellent stats.
Social Networks at their extreme reach. people can network with likeminded people and companies can reach a whole new audience
I like to see how the the Pew survey results compared with Korea and Japan.
http://bridgingculturekorea.blogspot.com/
Does the main reason to join a social network community depend on the type of community? For example, people join MySpace or Facebook to socialize but LinkedIn to make business contacts or gather expertise. Few weeks ago I posted that question across multiple LinkedIn groups: Why did you join Linkedin? The 6 Top reasons were business related.
I wonder if this data doesn't also suggest that adults don't distinguish between professional and social networking. When someone says they use the site to keep track of friends, I wonder if many of those friends are actually people they interact with on mostly a professional basis and consider both colleagues *and* friends, but are reluctant to classify that relationship as "professional networking".
Note that none of the top responses are "To watch ads", "To have ads displayed" or "Engage with brands".
This makes sense.
When I was growing up and first started to use the phone, it was primarily used to stay in touch with friends and make plans with them. As I got older, I started using the phone for other reasons, like organizing events and developing professional connections.
Maybe the question to ask is: as good as this snap shot of where we are is excellent, where might we be going from here? As the medium matures, the scope of use generally expands and evolves.
All my best,
Rich
I think adults joining social networks is very beneficial to them. It is a great way to find those old college/high school friends that you've been wondering where they are. But on the other hand, the younger generation doesn't like having old people snooping around our stuff.
Linked in is the only network people actually use regularly for commercial objectives. On facebook etc. it's just a minor part.
As mentioned earlier, 30/40/50 year reunions are now often orchestrated through facebook. Hundreds of new members join off of that connection within a week.
It's only a matter of time before those individuals start seeing the purpose of mobile internet on "smart phones" where they did not before.
Agree!
LinkedIn helped me to keep in touch with x-co-workers who are all now in senior positions all over the world and I personally find LinkedIn a much better network ... facebook is like sitting in a cafe and LinkedIn is more like in a company's canteen (doesn't sound sexy but I am personally a corporate animal) ....
I might be wrong but I just started a new series in my blog to help others to get a better understanding of social media and how to use it to your own advantage